Gods, Guardians, Fairies and Dragons
by Scorpio121
Summary: Kaoru Fullbuster is tired of being looked down upon because she is weak, and being overestimated because of her parents. She runs away from home to become stronger and step out of her parents' shadow. Meanwhile, Ponyo and Kamberu, the children of Natsu and Lucy Dragneel, have gone on a rescue mission to find their guild mate. But will Ponyo and Kaoru's rivalry intervene?
1. Runaway

Kaoru looked up at the stars, thinking. _Is this what I want? To be stronger, yes… But to go this far… _She shivered, telling herself to get a move on. It was a warm summer night, but her family lived in a dark forest where Father could strip freely and Mother could practice her magic all she wanted. Kaoru didn't care. The only thing that bothered her was the high insect population. Flies and ants didn't bother her; it was just the spiders and scorpions that made her a little scared to go outside. She brushed a raven lock out of her eyes and began walking. One final glance at her home is all she allowed.

The messenger bag on her shoulder had everything she needed, anyways. The girl opened it as she walked down the dirt road, checking its contents. Fifty thousand Jewel for shelter and when she was low on food, dried food that she could keep for a long time, five bottles of water, a lacrima to contact her family once she was far enough away, spare clothing and shoes, hairbrush and toiletries, a jacket, a light lacrima, and some other necessities, including multiple pairs of contacts and a pair of glasses, just in case. The note had been left, and everything was perfect. On she went, sneaking through the forest. This had been planned for a long time.

As she walked, Kaoru thought of what she had done to get this far. It had required a lot of work and she had been thinking for almost two years now. She had taken over eighty jobs to get the large sum of money she had with her, and had purposely estranged herself from her family, so much that they couldn't tell what she was thinking anymore. She didn't want them to know, though. Kaoru had made a promise to herself, one that she couldn't break. And the Fairy Tail mage couldn't crack now. Her cold hand went to the back of her neck, where it bore the bright blue mark of her guild. Another shiver. She shook her head, and kept walking.

Her only concern was the next morning.

The next day, Kaoru's parents burst into the guild, panting, with Juvia panicking and Grey just glaring daggers at everyone. A hall of noise and happiness quickly fell silent. "Who took her?" Grey asked, his voice full of burning, stinging acid.

"What do you mean, who took her? What's wrong, Ice Princess?" a man with salmon hair asked. His voice was carefree and it had a hint of "I'm-annoyed-what-do-you-want-now" in it.

"My daughter is missing, Natsu. I don't have time to argue," the distraught man replied through gritted teeth.

"Maybe she just left to go swimming or something," Natsu said back. Juvia shook her head.

"Juvia thinks not, because she found a note this morning." Mirajane dropped the mug she was cleaning. Everyone fell silent.

"You found _what_?" Erza asked, rising to her feet and leaving her strawberry cake on the table.

Juvia could feel the tears gathering in her eyes. "Juvia's child has left! The note told her so! It told her so!" Grey slowly squeezed her hand, gentle as he wrapped her in a hug. Muffled, she murmured, "Grey-sama, your clothes…"

Meanwhile, two girls were running to the guild, one with black hair that was pulled into pigtails and the other with messy red hair, chattering. "What do you think everyone's doing?"

"I don't know, 'Ru. Maybe Dad and Grey are fighting again?"

"Maybe," the one with the pigtails answered curtly. She ran a little faster.

"Or Aunt Erza could be eating cake..." the red-haired one mused, running to catch up with her sister.

"That wouldn't be happening if Dad and Grey were fighting, Ponyo!"

"I was just thinking, gosh!" Ponyo defended. "Kamberu, don't be so mean!"

"I can be what I want when it comes to you!" Kamberu retorted, stopping at the guild's doors. She opened them, about to greet everyone when she realized everyone was silent. "What's wrong?"

Grey turned to look at them. "Kaoru's missing."

Ponyo smirked. "What's the problem, then?" She received a punch from her sister. "Damn it, Kam! That hurt!"

"Why?" Kamberu asked. "Nobody, except Ponyo here, hated her…"

"Juvia will read the note to the guild, if it helps."

"Read it, Juvia, please," Lucy told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"This is what the note says," Juvia began.

"_Dear Mother and Father, _

_I am okay. I have left to become stronger. I have taken a lacrima with me and will be home in a few months. I will be safe, so please don't worry. Also, please tell everyone I said hello. Kaoru._"

"Damn it, damn it, damn it all!" Grey cursed, "Damn it all to hell!"

"Calm down, Grey-sama..." Juvia comforted him.

"You know, Ponyo and I can go looking for her," Kamberu offered. Ponyo punched her shoulder, but she ignored it.

Erza smiled at the sisters. "That'd be nice. Go, find her. She can't be far."

**_A Few Hours Earlier_**

Kaoru looked at the rising sun, frowning. Her parents were surely getting up now. She had better get a move on. Luckily, she was in the outskirts of Magnolia and had quickly reached the train station. After paying for her ticket and getting on the train, she sat in thought. _I only have 49, 800 Jewel left.. better be careful or it'll be all gone in an instant. I wonder how things are in Fairy Tail right now? Is Cana getting drunk this early in the morning? Most likely; she's always getting drunk or groaning about being hung over. _Her eyes fell onto the contact lacrima in her bag. She desperately wanted to let her parents know she was safe, but that would give away her location. Maybe next time she was in a forest, so it would look like she was coming home. _Wait, no. That'd be a terrible thing to do, Kaoru. Don't get their hopes up like that. _The girl sighed. _But, _the little voice in her head replied, its voice snide, _then if you don't do it there, they might recognize the location and come track you down. It's better to get their hopes up and keep going than to give them what they want and lose two year's careful planning. This may be your only chance. After this, they may never let you out of their sight again. You have to keep going, so you can prove to them that you can protect yourself, that you can be alone. That this was for everyone's good, not just yours, not for theirs, but for the guild. If you're powerful enough, you can be on the front line and help. Like when that Twilight Ogre guild was abusing us. Back in x791. You weren't there. But if you were, if you had power, they would have been beat into last November. You can't do anything while you have weak Water Make magic. Go learn more powerful magic. Become stronger. Be able to protect anyone, and overpower all who pose a threat. _Kaoru smiled. The voice was right.

Present time, Kaoru got off the train in Hargeon, looking around. She smiled and started on. From here, she'd take a boat to Oshibana and take a train into the mountains. She had heard of Lost Magic teachers there, but they would only train you if you could successfully make it up to their homes, which were at the peaks of said mountains. It would be hard, but you had to work to get anything in this world. And hard work was nothing different. Not at all.


	2. New Faces

Kaoru sat on yet another train, using the lacrima to play a game. It was simple, really. All you had to do was climb a mountain and fight the monster, then go back to your guild and get the reward. She was on level 87 and was currently fighting a dragon. _Left, left, up, right, down, press A at the same time as left and right…_"Breath of the Water Dragon!" the avatar yelled, attacking the pixelated dragon. Boom. Fifteen points of health gone with one attack. _That must have been a critical hit..._

The next part was easy. She maneuvered the character to a teleportation lacrima, and went back to Fairy Tail. There, she cashed in the reward and grinned. One hundred thousand Jewel was deposited into her character's coin purse, and she reached level 88. A new type of magic was unlocked. She looked over at it. "Water God Slayer, huh?"

All of the types of magic were water. At least, for her. When she signed up, it gave her a choice of elements. Obviously, the girl had chosen water. Fire and iron were the crowd favorites, seeing as how Natsu and Gajeel employed said elements and won most, if not all, of the battles they fought. In other words, too many people used them. There were low-levels everywhere, all trying to climb their way to the top, but never could because of the large number of high-leveled, pixelated mages blocking their way.

She grinned. Kaoru was the highest level Water mage in this game, so said the leaderboards, with the second highest trailing fifteen levels behind her. Any new type of Magic they added, she would try out for the water element as fast as she could. After purchasing the new Magic type, she went on another job to try it out. Back to the teleportation lacrima she went, then climbed up the mountain. _Okay, what is this,_ she thought. A man stood on the mountain. This must be her opponent. She leaned back, into the train seat, as it stopped. There were three stops on this train, and she had gotten on for the first. The third was when she got off. Softly, she shifted, as her foot was falling asleep. _I should probably sleep, too._ She shrugged. _Just one more fight.. I have to defeat this guy and try out God Slayer magic._And thus the battle began.

Ponyo was packing, her grimace stretching into a dark cloud over her. "Damn it, Ru, why'd you have to volunteer? We could have trained, gotten stronger, and been able to beat her when she got back! We could have-"

Her sister interrupted her. "Shut up, Ponyo. You know why I volunteered? So you could learn. Lives are worth more than rivalries. What if she dies out there, huh? Would you want to have a dead rival? A dead guild mate- just because you were too stubborn to go and find her? Really?" Kamberu glared at her sister with disgust, shutting her suitcase.

Ponyo tried to change the subject. "What's with the suitcase? Shouldn't we be taking backpacks?"

Kamberu shook her head. "You might, but if I need to fight, my shoulders don't need to be sore."

Back on the train, Kaoru was just finishing her battle with the man on the mountain. Bright yellow words came across the ball. _You've beaten a Water God…..? What?_She read it again. Yeah, this guy was a god. So she just used God Slayer magic against a God and won. Even though it was her first time. "I'm such a pro," she said to herself, grinning. A kid sat down across from her, causing her to look up at him. He had spiky, black hair that was parted to the right. For some reason, this kid reminded her of Dad. It was the eyes. A small mole manifested on his left cheek. He smiled at her. "Hello? Who are you?" Kaoru murmured.

"I'm Elliot, darling. Surprised you didn't know. I am, after all, the best thing that's ever happened to you," he grinned. "What about you, sweetie? You look like someone I know... A fangirl, maybe? Nah, too pretty. Reminds me of my girlfriend back at home. Speakin' of that, what're _you_ doing away from home?" Leaning into Kaoru's face, he studied her eyes. She tried to lean away from him.

"Get away from me, please."

"But why, miss? You have beautiful eyes, by the way."

"I am sorry; I do not like people in my personal space." Kaoru glared at him as she put away her lacrima.

"Well, excuse me, Princess. Did you dye your hair? It's blue, just like my mother's..."

"No. It's natural."

"I see…" Elliot retreated, sitting down. "So, who are you?"

Kaoru's mind went blank. _Shit. Think, Kaoru! Most common last names in Fiore! _"I'm Kaoru. Kaoru Suzuki."

Elliot leaned forward. "You in a guild?"

"No," Kaoru told him, "but I'm traveling to one. There's this one that I want to join."

"What's that? Sabertooth? Or maybe…. Blue Pegasus?"

"No, Lamia Scale." _Where are you coming up with these lies?!_

"I like Lamia. They're good friends of ours. But you look like you belong in Mermaid Heel."

"What guild are you in, Elliot?" Kaoru asked, trying to change the subject.

"Fairy Tail. Lamia and Blue Pegasus were our allies back in x787 and x791. They're still our allies today." He put his hands behind his head and leaned into the seat. "You do realize Lamia Scale is nowhere close to where this train's going, right?"

"Yeah. I plan on going to the station and then taking a train to Lamia." She silently hoped he didn't see through her.

"Oh. Well, I'm staying on to go back to Magnolia. I have to get back to my guild, you know?"

A few hours later, she got off the train and started walking into the crowd. _Now to get to the mountains,_ she thought,_ and then I can start training._

The sun was beginning to set as Kaoru found a cave to shelter in for the night. Sleep came easily on the rocky ground, but in her dream, she could see it. Wielding dark black water, just like in the game, and using it to attack. This is what she wanted, yes.

She was woken by a small drizzle, and pulled on her coat. After, she took a stance. "Water Make: Umbrella!" Using the water to deflect the water (how ironic), she started toward the mountains.


	3. Author's Note

I AM SO SORRY. I HAVE BEEN BUSY. IT SEEMS I CAN ONLY UPDATE ON WEEKENDS. THERE WAS A TORNADO ON TUESDAY AND I HAD TESTING AND HOMEWORK AND SHIZ. ;;w;; I AM SORRY BUT THIS IS HOW IT HAS TO BE. WHEN I TRY TO MAKE CHAPTERS ON WEEKDAYS THEY NEVER GO ABOVE 214 WORDS. AND YOU GUYS DESERVE 1000 WOOOOOOOOOOORDS.

SCORPIO121.

OUT.

YOU CAN LEAVE NOW.


	4. Phoenix Tear

**A/N: Thank you so much, Ushiio, for giving me the idea for this chapter. Writer's block is at its all-time high now, and I'm sorry for the lack of updates.. Onto the story now, yes?**

"What do you mean, you saw Kaoru?" Grey grumbled, looking deep into the lacrima.

Elliot sighed. "She was on the train, Dad. Said she was going to go join Lamia Scale."

"Juvia hopes not! Grey-sama would go and kill Lyon!" the mother told her child.

"But why'd she want to do that?" Grey muttered, sitting back for a second. "Did we do something wrong?"

"No," Lucy said, her eyebrows knit together. "Maybe she was just trying to avoid detection."

"Why didn't you bring her back, Elliot?" the ice mage asked, putting his head in his hands.

"I thought she was on a job!" the boy replied, defending himself.

"Unbelievable... I thought we raised you better than this, boy."

The lacrima shut off, turning black aside from the overhead lights of the guild.

"Flame Breath. Your kids had better bring my girl home safe."

"They will. Chill," Natsu told him, lounging on a chair.

"Or I'll freeze 'em." Grey took another swig of his slush.

Kaoru looked up at the sky as she walked. _How long has it been raining?_ she wondered. _How's everyone in Fairy Tail? I wonder if Father and Natsu-san are fighting. Is Mother being creepy again? _She ducked as an explosion occurred behind her. As the debris settled and the smoke cleared, she looked back. A man stood there, grinning. His hair was dark red, and was combed back. A large brown cloak whipped around him, covering him effectively. A small, limber woman jumped down, landing beside him. Kaoru could feel the large drop of sweat that had appeared on her head. She had on a blue bikini top, and a brown shoulder bag cut across her chest to hang at her _right_ hip. But then the small girl's eyes widened as she saw it. Them. The Fairy Tail mark on her stomach. The Fairy Tail mark on his chest, only being shown when his cape left for the wind, only to return.

Silence hung in the air as the woman straightened. "Eh? Who's this?" she said, stepping forward.

"Dunno," the man replied, stepping forward as well. Kaoru glared daggers at both of them.

"Come any closer and I'll attack," she warned. The pair just merely scoffed.

"I'd like to see you do that, little girl. My daughter can take down powerful mages like Freed Justine and Bickslow. She is, after all, the daughter of Gildarts Clive!" the man exclaimed.

Kaoru's mind reeled. _Holy... Am I really going to try and bring these two down? Cana Alberona and Gildarts Clive... But they might reveal my location. I have to try._ "Water Make: Bow! Quiver! Arrows!" Watery items appeared on various parts of her body: a watery-looking bow in her hands, a quiver full of dark arrows on her back.

Cana smiled. "Hey, isn't this Juvia and Grey's kid? We'd better get her back to the guild, or else Grey'll be pissed." Kaoru's grip tightened on her bow as she took an arrow out of the quiver with shaky hands._ Loaded, _she thought as the action was done_._

"Card Magic: Burning Cards!" Kaoru sidestepped as the golden cards shot past her, burning, and exploded upon contact with a tree behind her. She loosened an arrow, and the bow, as well as the quiver, vanished. Cana wasn't too shabby in a fight, she realized, as the woman dodged the arrow and threw more cards. "Wind's Edge!"

The attack caught Kaoru off-guard, as the card's wind lifted her up even further. The wind stopped almost altogether, and she hit the ground. But she shook her head, and got back up. That's what Mother taught her. Never stay down. Always get back up, no matter what. The card were relentless, though. "Jolt of Fate!"

"Water Shield!" The spells hit each other, resulting in a smoke screen and major confusion. Cana looked around, afraid she'd seriously hurt her guild mate. Gildarts began to search the vicinity. Meanwhile, Kaoru was running as fast as she could. _Out, out, out, out, out. Get as far as possible. _She was so thankful she had worn running shoes. _Note to self: change appearance. _She could hear footsteps behind her, and whispered a spell her mother had taught her. "Dissolution: Activate," she murmured, and quickly became water, dropping to the ground in a puddle.

Kamberu waited outside of a doctor's office. Her eyes kept flitting back to the door. _I wonder how Pon's doin'... It's been hours.. _A few minutes later, Kamberu looked up as the door was blasted down with water. She grinned. It had worked. The Dragon Lacrima had been planted. Ponyo walked up to her sister, grinning. "I'm a Water Dragon Slayer now!" she bragged.

"And I've got Guardian eggs, so don't think you can take me down because of that magic."

"Got my bucket?"

"Yeah, it's right here." "Ru" threw the bucket at her sister, smacking her in the face. Ponyo hit the floor, but sat up, holding her cheeks. "Looks like a new Lost Magic doesn't mean your skills have gotten any better!"

"But I can defeat Kaoru with this!" Ponyo replied, clenching the fist that had been rubbing her face only mere seconds ago.

Kaoru walked out of the hair shop smiling, even though she was grimacing in her thoughts. _There goes another 200 Jewel... 49, 600 left._ She shook her head, escaping into the forest. After five minutes of walking, she encountered the mountain. It was huge. Nevertheless, she began to climb. _Come on, Kaoru. You can do this. You can do this, it's not that hard. This is one of the final steps. Come on._ Even though her body screamed at her to stop, she kept going. Climbing higher and higher, becoming used to the mountain and surely putting her feet and hands up higher, one at a time. A few times, she almost slipped, but kept going. This was her goal. This is what she wanted. And she was so close. So, so close to finding what she'd wanted all these years.

A few hours later, it was done. She stood on the peak. But so did another person. She had light blue hair, but it could have been any color in the twilight's red hues. A white cape flowed around her shoulders; ending in small tassels around the hem. It swayed in the breeze, only drawing back to show the glint of two golden keys. _A Celestial Wizard... Wow.. I thought Lucy-sama was the only one.. That's why she doesn't have all the Zodiac keys, huh? The other Celestial Mage? _The woman turned to her, smiling. "Welcome to Phoenix Tear, young one." Yukino Aguria smiled at her warmly.


	5. The Medical Ward

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, but school is out on Thursday! :D Also, I have forgotten to credit some OCs. Kaoru belongs to Scorpio121, Ponyo and Kamberu to Iheartfairytail21, Elliot to Scarlette Shizuru, Hika to Thief-Of-Breath, and Navi to Rose A. Harvey. Fairy Tail belongs to ****Hiro Mashima, not to Scorpio121. **

Kamberu stared out of the window of the hotel she was in; feeling alone for the first time in her life. Lonely. Her eyes threatened to close any second now, and it was all she could do to keep them open.

The hotel was a nice one, the walls painted a light blue, with a bright white that stood out so much the difference in color was astronomical, even though the shades were so close to each other. A dark, wooden desk sat in the corner. It was cherry, she thought, with swirls of mahogany and birch. It was a beautiful piece of furniture, and spanned a large area. On the other side of the room sat a majestic bed, a white mattress with a fluffy comforter on top. The pillows were arranged so neatly, you would think it was one pillow all on its own, and there was a regal canopy above it, golden at the top but fading into scarlet tassels and folding into a small sea at the bottom. It was silky, yet slightly translucent, and Kamberu wondered how this was arranged. The carpet was soft cobalt, almost a white that blended into the walls, if not for the dark purple skirt of the wall.

A small Guardian scurried around the room, busy in cleaning. Her frock was black, with a white apron not unlike Virgo's. Silvery hair tumbled down her back, curls simply everywhere.

"Madia."

"Yes, ma'am?" Madia turned to look at Kamberu. Her eyes studied the girl carefully; piercing blue eyes meeting dark, weary brown ones. Her hair was down; a fact that shocked the small Guardian. It was to her shoulders, wavy as her father's, spiky like her father's as well, the trait showing at the tips, which were a dark red, almost black. She was also sloppily dressed.

"When do you think Ponyo's coming back?" Kamberu's tone was flat, uncaring, bored.

"I'm not sure. It'll take a while for her to find a dragon, first, and then it'll be a few more years to learn the magic. Remember, Mister Dragneel has spent his whole life looking for dragons and never found one, except for Acnologia. But Acnologia is just a legend. He's been dead for seven years, so no one knows if they had actually seen him or not." Madia answered, going back to putting the room in order.

Kamberu sighed. "I just wish she had taken me with her. It's a hard road, becoming a Third Generation Dragon Slayer. And I could have helped her."

* * *

Kaoru opened her eyes and looked around. She must have fallen asleep on the mountain. Except for the fact that she was not on a mountain. Her eyes widened she was in a guild hall. People bustled about, some playing around with magic. Something was behind her back, propping her up at an angle so she could see, but wasn't necessarily sitting up. The runaway watched in wonder as a white ball was tossed back and forth by two people; a small child desperately trying to catch it. The adults smiled and didn't throw it very high, as well as going rather easy on the child. A man with white-blonde hair flashed a grin at her, then returned to the child and a man with mint-green hair and a tribal outfit. He was rather well-built. _Is that... Sting Eucliffe? That one guy with the White Dragon Slayer Magic? And Orga Nanagear, with Lightning God Slayer Magic? Playing with a little kid? This isn't right!_ Kaoru's thoughts raced as she sat up, but was forced back down.

"Lay down, you need your rest," a kind voice told her, a soft hand shoving her back into the softness. She looked up. The mage she had met earlier smiled at her, now in more normal attire. She wore a white tank and light blue shorts; the shoulders covered by a light top that covered her shoulder blades and reached to her elbows. "You're a long way from home, Fairy Tail mage. What brings you to Phoenix Tear?" Kaoru could feel Yukino's warm brown eyes searching her soft, nebulous cyan ones. She looked away, mumbling. "Hmm?" The lady asked, sitting down.

"I said, I ran away to come here and learn Magic."

"...Really?"

"Yeah. I planned for two years, went out on tons of jobs, and then came here." Kaoru looked at Yukino. "Promise me you won't try to turn me in?"

"No promises," she chuckled, pulling a key off her belt. Kaoru watched, her eyes widening at the key.

She watched as the long, ornate key rotated in its owner's hand. "That.. I haven't seen that kind of key before." Yukino smiled.

"It's a Platinum key. There aren't many in existence, maybe only about twenty or thirty. And they all are really special, but I can't tell you why. Not yet. I want you to find out on your own," Yukino told her. She diverted her attention to the key, and held it out before herself. "Open, Gate of the Skywalker! Navi!"

A woman with blonde hair appears from a magic circle. She dons a snow white strapless dress with ruffles creating a mullet skirt and embellishments on the upper half of the dress while blue ribbons are intertwined with her partly braided hair. A waterfall braid. Her hair was a few shades lighter than Lucy and her kind face held the gentlest smile. "Yes, miss?"

"Please use some of your Healing Magic on miss Fairy," Yukino gently ordered, although it kind of sounded like a request. "She's overexerted herself coming here, and wants to learn a Lost Magic, most likely. She'll begin training tomorrow, so she needs to have her strength."

"Yes, miss." Kaoru watched her carefully, her mind softening as white seed floated from the Spirit's fingers onto her, budding into bright, white blossoms. Roses.

And then everything went black.


	6. Four Years

It was a bright day, and a perfect one to battle. A woman came out of a dark cave, her blue eyes searching the crowds for her opponent, who was sure to leap out at any moment and attempt a surprise attack. She had to be on her guard. A frenzied shriek came from behind the girl, who appeared to be 15, and she sidestepped breezily. "So, Hika, you haven't mastered being quiet yet, huh?"

"Nah, Kao. Too busy focusing on how to beat you! And I'm close, too!" Hika crossed her arms at the elbows, a gesture which caused the other to flinch and guard. She hit the ground, but straightened easily. Her silvery-blue hair stood up in spikes, but hung in them too, each one generating a small gust. "But I'll do it today," she said bravely. "I'll show you the power of a Eucliffe!"

The girl, nicknamed "Kao", grinned at Hika. She shrugged, easing a plaid, blue shirt off her shoulders and tossing it away. This earned a few gasps. She was serious, they knew. "And I'll show you the power of the guild I left four years ago. The family I left," she said, putting a hand behind her neck and pulling her hair up. "I'm still a Fairy Tail mage, and I'll prove it, too!"

"Fine then," Hika told her, "but if I win this, you gotta go home." The popping of her knuckles let the crowd know she was serious, too.

"If I win, you gotta fly me there. Already planning on going home," Kaoru told her. "I bet Mama's gonna cry, 'Grey-sama! Grey-sama!' the whole time, 'cause that's all she talks about!" Her tone was pointed, mocking, but held no ice, no venom, just a lighthearted joke.

"Sure." And then Hika moved. Kaoru knew she was fast, but water was faster, so she put her hands onto the ground and closed her eyes. Hika stopped for a moment, confused. She hadn't seen this before...

"Balneal Geyser!" A large, black eruption of water came from the ground, blasting Hika in the stomach. She fell, but got right back up. "Nice surprise attack, eh?" Kaoru taunted, smirking. If she fell for that.. Oh, she had so many metaphorical tricks up her sleeve..

Hika crossed her wrists as she closed her eyes, then turned them so her palms faced Kaoru. "Tempest!" she called, moving her arms as if opening them for a hug. Except, her palms were facing the wrong way, and wind came out in gusts. Strong winds, ones that would knock you on your feet. And then the rain began. She couldn't see that the attack had worked to her disadvantage, that the rain droplets were being eaten for power.

Hika had predicted this, and grinned. She placed her fingers together in a diamond, then blew through it. "Breath of the Zephyr!"

Kaoru grimaced and held her arms out in front of her. "Water Make: Shield!"

"Drench Ward!"

"Trade Wind!"

"Water Star!"

"Whirlwind!"

"Liquid Blitz!"

"Gale!"

* * *

Ponyo grimaced and looked up, dragging a hand through her messy, long red hair. _Damn, it's been a long time,_ she thought to herself. _Wonder how Dad's doing. And Mom, too. I wonder if Kam's here? _ She pursed her lips and pushed open the doors to her guild. Walking in, she tossed her backpack to the floor and acted like nothing happened. She walked up to the bar and asked Mira for some coffee. Said woman turned, starting a reply about how she was sorry that they were out of it and Gray please stop asking, but when she saw Ponyo, her jaw dropped and the mug slipped out of her hand. It clattered to the floor, parts breaking, but miss Mira ignored it. She turned, blinking, and studied the girl.

"Ponyo?" The word shattered the noise in the guild. Everyone fell silent and looked at the teen at the bar. Their thoughts were synonymous. _That can't be OUR Ponyo...could it? _

The girl grinned. "It's 'bout time, huh, Fairy Tail?" she asked, looking around. "Don't worry, guys, I've just been training the last few years. Haven't joined any new guilds or anythin'. That'd be so rude!"

A moment of silence. Then, an hour, maybe five, of cheering and partying.

* * *

Kamberu buried her head in her arms, just bored.. of everything. Life wasn't the same without Ponyo around. It was quieter, and boring..

"Hey. Chin up, Kammy. We'll do this job for you, and then we can go home," her Guardian told her.

The girl looked up, out the window, only to see Kaoru lounging in a water bubble as she was dragged by a grimacing girl in the direction of Fairy Tail. _Wind magic... wait, what?! Kaoru? You gotta be serious! _ "Hey, Ashton, cancel the job. We're going home," she told the Guardian.

"...Alrighty, why?" Ashton leaned in closer.

"I might be crazy, but I just saw Kaoru Fullbuster flying in a black bubble to Magnolia."

Ashton looked out the window, his brow furrowing, then his face morphing into one of surprise. "Holy- Kammy, you're not crazy! Come on, let's go!"

Kamberu smiled, a true one, the first in four years.. She opened the window and summoned another egg. "Aura, come on! Guardian of the Wind and Skies!"

A woman popped out, and nodded. Soon enough, they had left the train behind and were catching up to Kaoru and the other girl.

* * *

Yukino's smile faltered, tears in her eyes. Another heartbreaking scream, another. There hadn't been one for fifteen years..but Sting had done it, somehow.

"Hold on, Miss! It's almost over..." Navi pleaded, holding her hand. Another scream. And soon, wails. Ones that made everyone in the room smile- a new life had come into the world.

**A/N: I'm sorry for not updating fast enough! But, I will make it up to you, I promise! Also. There's a four-year timeskip between the last chapter and this one. I wanted to move the story along, okay?! But now that we have that done with.. our series is almost complete! ...or is it?**


End file.
